How to Stop Thinking About Something [Real Solution]

The approach in this post has more depth and is complex and interesting compared to typical approaches to stop thinking about something you don’t want to think about. This post is meant to give you a beginning framework.

If you tell a psychiatrist or mental health counselor that you can’t stop thinking about something, especially negative thoughts, you’re toying with getting labeled as obsessive. Not that anything is wrong with that if you’re into the mental health system. But there are other options.

How to Stop Thinking About Something You Can’t Stop Thinking About

It boils down to this:

Part of you has a reason to think about it. Once you satisfy this part of you, you’ll be able to stop thinking about it.

This point is critical. YOU want to stop thinking about something. A part of you does NOT want to stop thinking about that very thing. And this part of you has a purpose. It could be:

Distraction

Self-protection

A misaligned goal

You must discover what this part of you wants and help it achieve the goal in some other way. Chances are high that obsessively thinking about something is not working. Yet, this part of you has no other options.

This simple shift in your thinking is a start. To recap:

Part of you has a reason for thinking about something YOU don’t want to think about.